The Red Sox showed more fight than at any point in any of the previous two games, but it wasn’t enough to stave off a Baltimore Orioles sweep. Boston fought back to bring the score within one run on three separate occasions but ultimately lost 6-5 in a shootout at Camden Yards.
GAME IN A WORD
Fiesty.
Wade Miley started for the Red Sox and didn’t show many signs of life until manager John Farrell pulled him after four innings.
Miley surrendered five runs in those four innings, including three home runs. But when Farrell decided to remove Miley from the game, he didn’t take well to the news, instead appearing to blow up at Farrell on his way out of the dugout and into the clubhouse.
The Red Sox made it close but couldn’t tie the game, trailing from start to finish.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Pick your poison.
— Miley’s five runs allowed dug a deep hole for the Red Sox, but the team eventually scored five runs of its own — a positive sign for this relatively dormant offense.
— Steven Wright relieved Miley in the fifth and pitched very well for two innings, but Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval threw a ball into the stands to begin the seventh on a routine grounder from Manny Machado, who was awarded second base on the play.
Nolan Reimold followed with a walk, Adam Jones moved Machado over with a lineout to left field, and a Matt Wieters sacrifice fly scored Machado for the Orioles’ sixth and eventual game-winning run.
ON THE BUMP
— Miley regressed and pitched poorly, as previously mentioned. He lasted just four innings, laboring through 20 batters and throwing 69 pitches in the outing.
Miley wasn’t wild, as he didn’t walk or hit any batters, but he couldn’t hit his spots. Three Orioles — Jones in the first, Reimold in the third and Machado in the fourth — all took the left-hander deep. The pitch to Machado was particularly bad, as the 90-mph fastball was right down the middle of the plate. It landed in the deep left-center field stands.
— Wright was impressive, lasting 2 2/3 innings in relief of Miley. The knuckleballer allowed only one hit, walked two and struck out two batters. The Sandoval error didn’t help Wright, but Machado reaching second base on the error and a walk to Reimold immediately afterward ultimately was the Red Sox’s kiss of death.
— Junichi Tazawa relieved Wright and retired all four batters he faced. Tazawa continues to be excellent for Boston, and lowered his ERA to 1.33.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
It took the Red Sox bats a few innings to warm up, but they looked better than they have of late once they did.
— Trailing 4-0 in the fourth, Dustin Pedroia (who else?) sent a two-strike fastball back into center field to lead off the inning. Brock Holt followed with a single to right, and Hanley Ramirez walked, loading the bases for David Ortiz with no outs.
Ortiz popped out to shallow center field, but Mike Napoli sent a ball to deep center field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Pedroia from third.
A once-promising inning was salvaged a bit by Sandoval, who doubled into the left-center field gap, scoring Holt from second and Ramirez all the way from first.
— Miley surrendered the home run to Machado the next half-inning to make the score 5-3 Baltimore.
— The Red Sox nearly benefited from a misplayed ball from Reimold. Mookie Betts smoked a pitch to the wall in left, but Reimold appeared to have it tracked down until the last moment, when it slipped by his glove and caromed off the wall. Betts thought about taking third for a triple, but he retreated once Jones quickly tracked down the baseball.
Betts was stranded at third in the inning.
— Xander Bogaerts continued his hot streak. Ramirez walked to begin the sixth, and Sandoval moved him up to second on a single two batters later. Bogaerts followed with a sharp single to left, and Ramirez hustled around from second to beat a close throw at home.
— Ortiz crushed a homer off Baltimore reliever Chaz Roe in the eighth inning to pull the score closer at 6-5. It was a good sign, but it also was Ortiz’s only hit of the night. He finished 1-for-4 with a strikeout and left a team-high four runners on base.
— Sandoval was the only Red Sox to record multiple hits with two. Ramirez was the only member of the team to not record a hit, but he scored two runs after hustling around the bases following walks.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Sort of sums things up.
[tweet https://twitter.com/MichaelSBerger/status/609152552911917056 align=’center’]
UP NEXT
The Red Sox return home to Fenway Park for a five-game homestand, with the next three coming against the Toronto Blue Jays. Right-handed pitcher Drew Hutchison (5-1, 4.91 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for Toronto.
Hutchison already has started two games against the Red Sox this season, pitching very well in one (five innings, one run, six strikeouts) and poorly (four innings, six runs, five walks) in the other. Toronto has won all those games.
Joe Kelly (2-4, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to take the hill for the Red Sox.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
